Black Armor
by landmarj
Summary: Naruto was banished after the failed retrieval of Sasuke because the council believed he was a threat. He travels and ends up in Kumo where he learns to be a Shinobi and a Jinchuriki.
1. Chapter 1: Results of Luck

**I do not own Naruto. I wish I did though.**

* * *

His eyes shot open. Ignoring the screaming pain his body felt, Naruto sat up, his eyes franticly looking around the room.

He hoped to wake up and see that his team was alright, that they had succeeded in getting Sasuke back, but only the white walls of the Konohas hospital surrounded him.

What happened? Why was he back in the hospital? Was the mission a success? All he wanted was someone there to tell him what was going on!

He didn't need anyone to tell him though. After calming himself down, he noticed the Hitai-ate down on his lap and the scrape that was through it.

The blonde couldn't help it; tears fell from his eyes, soaking the bandages around his face.

_'No… no…. I failed… I failed to bring him back…. No… I didn't keep my promise… I DIDN'T KEEP MY PROMISE!'_

He punched the head band on his lap, over and over again.

_'WHY DID YOU LEAVE, YOU BASTARD!? WHY!?'_

It took a while for him to calm down again. He had used all the tears he could. His mind was clear now though. He was blinded by anger, but now he could think about what happened since he last left the village. Laying back down, trying to ignore the pain from his body again, the blonde reflected what he last remembered.

His best friend told him he was leaving for that bastard Orochimaru. He thought about Sakura. She cried pleading him to bring Sasuke back to her, like her life was lost without him.

His thoughts then moved to the battle.

Sasuke was using the cursed seal, not that he knew. Neither his teammate nor his Sensei ever told him what happened. They just left him oblivious to everything that happened around him.

He remembered how they his rival charged at him, Chidori flaring, and he charged back with Kyuubi cloak and a Rasengan. Their attacks were about to clash before he changed the direction of his and just scraped the Hitai-ate of his best friend.

The last he could remember was feeling a horrible pain through his gut and then blacking out.

He wasn't strong enough. Sasuke won.

Three hours passed by and not a single soul passed by to see him. It bothered him, but it gave him time to think, mentally hit himself over and over again. What could he have done to get stronger, not to be a burden to everyone and keep his promise?

The door to his room caught his attention. Turning his head he saw Shikamaru standing in the doorway.

"Well, well, so you're awake huh?" The Nara had a small smirk on his face.

"Shikamaru!" The blonde's eyes lit up for a few moments, excited that someone finally came to see him, but they dimed again. He realized why his friend was here. He only wanted to know what happened with Sasuke.

"So everyone's going to be ok." Shikamaru took a seat at the end of the bed.

"I see…. Well at least everybody is okay….. That's good."

There were a few moments of silence as Shikamaru watched Naruto whose dead eyes stuck to the Hitai-ate on his lap.

"So…. Sasuke is….?"

"Yea… Sasuke left…."

Shikamaru was going to ask what happened but before he could, the two boy's attention was brought to the door. Sakura and Tsunade entered the room. The two members from team 7 looked at each other, but Naruto pulled away, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"I heard your injuries were pretty serious, you seem to be doing well though." Tsunade said looking at the bandaged boy in front of her. It has hard for her to see him this way. She started to look at the boy like a younger brother. She hated to see him in so much pain, physical and mental.

"I'm…. sorry Sakura..." Naruto whispered. He had expected his teammate to yell at him. Say he was useless and that he wasn't strong enough to bring back the boy she loved, but she didn't react like that at all.

"Sorry? What have you got to be sorry about?" She put on an awkward smile, hoping to cheer the boy up. It didn't faze him though. "Let me guess? You got to cocky? Look at you now! You look like a mummy."

"I'm… so sorry…" he whispered again.

"Why do you have the curtains closed? It's a beautiful day outside!" Sakura walked over to the window purposely avoiding looking at her teammate. She drew the curtains open and light flooded the room. "See!"

Naruto knew what she was doing. It was too hard for him to see her like this, hiding her pain. He didn't want to see her like this, anyone like this. He hated when people around him were sad, especially his precious people. He could only do one thing at the moment, what he was best at, cheering people up, even if it meant hiding his own pain.

"Sakura! I promise I will bring him back!"

"He really tried Sakura!" Shikamaru piped up.

"I will bring him back Sakura! It's my nindo way! I will not go back on my word!"

The blonde watched as his teammates lips turned into a smile. "Thank you… Naruto."

* * *

Two days had gone by since Naruto had left the hospital. After Sakura and everyone else left, Jiraiya passed by, telling him that he would be taking him on a 3 year long training trip. He was extremely happy about that. Working with one of the Sannin would help him become strong, maybe strong enough to protect everyone who was precious to him.

Right now though, Naruto walked to the Hokage tower. He was being escorted by an Anbu who appeared at his apartment. Naruto assumed they would be going to the Hokage office to see Tsunade, but instead the Anbu led him passed the Hokages office and down the hall. They stopped in front of a couple of doors with the words council room written on one of them.

"Please enter Uzumaki," asked the Anbu before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto pushed the doors open and entered a large room with a long curved table. At the center of the table sat Tsunade with a bored look on her face. To the left of her sat the clan heads and the elders. To the right sat the civilian council which consisted of rich merchants and store owners.

"Baa-chan? What's going on?"

"I don't know, the council called for a meeting today and requested that you were there. Just take a seat and let's get this over with." Tsunade glared at the two elders and Danzo that sat next to her. They dragged her away from sake/paper just too probably discuss dribble about their traitorous Uchiha. "Alright Danzo, why did you call us all here?"

The man in question stood up. "Before I give my idea to the council, I would like to know more about the battle between the Uchiha and Uzumaki."

Everyone turned to face Naruto which made him extremely uncomfortable. It didn't help that he heard a few whispers from the civilian side that of course he lost to their great Uchiha. Even now they still love their precious traitor.

"Well… He said he was going to Orochimaru for power. I told him I wouldn't let him go, so we fought. We were fighting on the same level until some black patterns appeared on his body. He was able to grab me and he put a Chidori through my chest."

While the civilians sneered, a few of the shinobi present gasped while the others spat in disgust. The elders remained emotionless.

"I thought I was going to die, but the fox healed my chest and we continued to fight. We continued to fight until his Sharingan changed. He started to beat me but I accessed more of the Furball's chakra. We kept fighting until he changed again and the black markings on his body covered him and he got…wings. I made a rasengan and Sasuke made a Chidori, we charged and we hit each other. I blacked out after that…."

Danzo just nodded his head. "I have one more question Uzumaki. Is this the first time you used the Kyuubi's chakra?"

"No… I used it when I fought Haku."

"Haku?"

"My first C-rank mission. I got angry, really angry, when I thought he had killed Sasuke."

"Were you able to control the Kyuubi chakra?"

"I was able to control it just before killing Haku…"

"I think that is enough questions Danzo" spoke up Tsunade. "Why did you and the elders call this meeting? We still have a lot to do to rebuild the village."

Danzo sat back down in his chair. "I have called the council today, to discuss the banishment of Uzumaki Naruto."

For a moment, it was silent enough you could hear a pin drop. Then the whole room exploded in arguments.

"YEA! FINALLY GET RID OF THE DEMON!" "WE SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS YEARS AGO!" "HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT! KILL HIM!" The civilian side was the loudest. They were ecstatic to finally get the chance to get rid of the human Kyuubi.

The shinobi side of the council could not get over their shock of what was proposed. Naruto had been a loyal shinobi through and through and Danzo suggested they throw him away? The boy had made great friends with their sons and daughters, they all came home and said even though the boy was dense at times, he was always someone you could trust to have your back.

"What are you suggesting!? This boy is one of the most loyal shinobi we have!" shouted Tsume. "He saved are village from the Suna jinchuriki!"

"He would give anything to save his comrades!" Choza shouted.

The shouting and discussions finally ended when Tsunade shouted louder than them all. "EVERYONE SHUT UP! RIGHT NOW!"

The killing intent from the Hokage was enough to make the civilian side almost wet themselves.

"Why the hell would we have any reason to banish Naruto!" Tsunade asked Danzo. Her face was fuming.

"He is a security risk to the village Lady Tsunade." This time Koharu, one of the Hokages advisors spoke up. "His anger releases the Kyuubi and he is a shinobi that is not in control of his emotions."

"He was able to control it in the end!"

"But what if he was put in a situation where he lost complete control, he could hurt himself and others around him. He is unstable shinobi, Lady Tsunade."

"I can take him off of active duty! He can train to contro-"

"We understand that Lady Tsunade. That is not the only reason he is a security risk though."

"So what other bullshit theory have you come up with then!"

"The Akatsuki." Danzo stated. "As you know, the Akatsuki are a group of S-rank criminals that are after the Kyuubi. We are currently rebuilding the village and a good portion of our forces are gone because of Orochimaru's invasion. We are not able to defend against a group S-rank shinobi."

"So what you are saying is we give this group the power of the nine tails!?" Shikaku asked.

"It is a sacrifice we must make to save the village."

"I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!" Tsunade shouted, releasing more killing intent. Villagers would later say they could feel it in the streets. "I AM HOKAGE! MY WORD IS FINAL!"

"That is not always true Lady Tsunade," spoke Homrua, the second of the Hokage's advisors. "In the charter, it is said if the council feels that the Hokage is blind or unwilling to make a rule to protect the village, the council can overrule their decision if the idea proposed by one the council has majority vote."

At that point Naruto's heart dropped. He was already hurt that the village was thinking about banishing him but he knew Baa-chan would stop them. Now he hears maybe even she cannot save him? What will happen to him? How will he bring Sasuke back if he cannot return himself!

"The council will bring it to a vote now. Those who are in favor of the banishment of Uzumaki Naruto, raise your hand." Koharu said.

"Naruto has lost…" Shikaku whispered to himself before council made their choice.

Unsurprisingly, none of the clan heads raised their hands. Unfortunately the civilian side of the council, including the elders and Danzo, had them beat in numbers.

"It's settled then…" Tears were falling from Tsunade's eyes. She tried to hold back her crying, trying to at least act like a Hokage, but she couldn't. "Naruto Uzumaki…. Is banished from Konoha….."

That was it. Naruto broke inside. He wouldn't be able to protect his precious people. He wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Sakura and bring the teme home. The blonde just sat there, his face a mix between shock and depression.

"Uzumaki, please step forward." Danzo had gotten up from his chair and had moved to the center of the room.

Naruto got up like a zombie, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

"Please return your Hitai-ate."

The blonde reluctantly untied his forehead protector and handed it over. He couldn't help but shed a few tears; he had just given up something precious to him, the first thing he received from someone who actually believed in him.

Danzo took the boys chin.

"Open."

Naruto complied as Danzo took out a seal from a pouch. He placed it on the jinchurikis tongue. The blonde squirmed as the seal melted into his flesh, leaving the markings of the seal all along his tongue.

"This seal will stop you from speaking secrets of Konoha. If you do try to say anything, the seal is set to explode. You will now be escorted to your apartment by Anbu and then directly to the village gates. You are not to speak to anyone."

"NO!" Tsunade stood up and slammed her fist against the table, her strength splintering it. "I will escort him myself!"

Every clan head watched as Naruto and the Hokage left the room. It took all their strength not to murder the civilian side of the council who kept cheering in happiness.

* * *

Naruto and Tsunade stood at the village gate. They had passed by Naruto's apartment so he could grab anything important to him. He didn't have much to. He grabbed some academy training scrolls, Gama-chan and a few kunai and shuriken he had laying around.

They said nothing, barely even looked at each other. Tsunade was ashamed that she could do nothing to help the boy she thought of as a younger brother. Naruto thought he had disappointed her.

They stood facing each other. Both their eyes were teary.

"I wish there was something more I could have given you before you left, but this is all I can do. Hopefully this will help." Tsunade handed him a small map.

"Thanks Baa-chan." He grabbed it and stuffed it poorly into his bag.

Silence reigned again between them. Neither of them wanted to say goodbye but they didn't know what to say to each other.

She would find a way to destroy the council. If they did this to one of their most loyal shinobi, what other horrible decisions would they make in the future. The village should be a dictatorship, not a democracy.

"You stay safe brat…" Tsunade said, finally able to break the silence.

"Don't worry Baa-chan…. I will…."

She drew the blonde into a hug and let the tears flow. First her lover, then her brother and now Naruto, the village was taking away everyone she loved.

"Please… say good bye to everyone for me. I hope they will miss me…" Naruto said as he returned the hug.

"They will brat, they will…"

They both released each other and Naruto turned to leave. As he left the village gates he turned his head to look at Tsunade one more time.

"Don't worry Baa-chan, I'll do great and I'll make sure everyone in the Elemental Nations knows how powerful of a shinobi I am!"

* * *

The former Konoha nin walked for hours.

He had made plans about what he wanted to do. He still wanted to be a strong shonbi, no matter what. If he wanted to accomplish his new goal though, he would need help with his training. There's only so much you could do by yourself.

He wanted to train in a hidden village since they would give him the most opportunity.

He didn't want to go to Kiri after what Haku told him they do to people with bloodlines. He would never work for a village that murdered its people. Iwa was also out of the question. He may have been poor in the academy, but he paid attention enough to know that Iwa and Konoha hated each other.

He had considered Suna, but he decided against it. They treated Gaara like shit and if they found out he was a jinchuriki to, they would despise him also. He was left with Kumo. He didn't know much about the village except for Kakashi told him they had good lightning manipulation which he thought was awesome.

"I guess I'm going to Kumo then!"

Naruto grabbed the map that Tsunade gave him out of his pack and looked for Lightning country.

"Hmm… I guess I should be heading north." His eyes looked in every direction and then he gave a small sigh. "I wish I knew which way was north."

It was his instincts that made him dodge the kunai thrown at his back. Turning around he saw about ten Anbu.

"Lord Danzo would like you to meet him," one of the Anbu said.

Fear of being attacked was quickly replaced by anger. Danzo was the reason he was banished! If he ever got the chance he would rip that old man's throat out! "You think I would ever meet with that asshole!"

"It was not a request Uzumaki."

"I WILL NOT MEET WITH THAT BASTARD!" Creating his favorite hand seal, about one hundred clones popped into existence, surrounding the Anbu.

The Anbu were taken by surprise, not that you could see it behind their masks. They thought it was exaggerated how many clones the boy could make.

The Root shinobi got into battle stances; they were expecting Uzumaki to fight. They were informed by Danzo that the boy was reckless and would blindly charge himself into situations he couldn't handle, without any sort of plan. They were surprised again when all the blondes jumped away in different directions.

"Everyone split up and find him!"

The original didn't realize it, it was probably a subconscious decision, but he ran towards the road he took on his first C-rank mission. Maybe some familiarity would give him some confidence that he won't get caught by that bastard's men.

He had a couple of clones as he travelled among the trees; each had kunai in hand. It was about two minutes before the boy was found.

Multiple kunai whipped through the air, hitting both clones in the back. Before the original was hit, one of his clones pushed him out of the way, and he fell hitting the ground hard.

He ignored the pains in his shoulder and got up. Looking up he saw an Anbu with a boar mask had caught up to him.

"Danzo-sama always gets what he wants Uzumaki. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

"I WILL NEVER GO TO THAT BASTARD!" Creating two more clones, the jinchuriki charged.

A lot of the enemies Naruto has faced in his shinobi career have underestimated him. They would toy with him in battle believing he posed no threat to them, which of course he didn't unless he used Kyuubi chakra. Most of his battles the enemy should have taken him out directly at the start; Naruto should have been a dead shinobi ages ago.

Root shinobi did not think along the same lines though. When the blonde idiot charged, the Anbu took advantage of his lower than average taijutsu. Throwing two kunai, he got rid of the clones, and then when his opponent got in range, he threw a series of punches and kicks that beat down the blonde in seconds.

Naruto fell back down to the ground, his limbs in unnatural positions. As an added security measure, the Anbu through kunai, pinning the blonde down by his clothing and hitting him in the legs, arms and shoulders, embedding themselves deep into his body.

"Uzumaki, you will come back with us."

Letting Naruto have a few moments to 'rest,' was the last big mistake the Anbu ever made.

Red chakra began to form all over Naruto's body. The kunai that dug into his skin were pushed out. As quickly as he could, he got up and jumped back, barely missing the Anbu who had jumped down to his position with a seal in his hand.

Danzo had calculated that if Naruto was backed up into a situation he couldn't handle, he would call on the Kyuubi's chakra. That is why he had given a seal to each of his Anbu that if it was placed the jinchurikis body, as the orange chakra cloak was forming, it would nullify it.

The Anbu did exactly as he was supposed to when he saw the chakra cloak, but he underestimated the speed Naruto moved at when influenced by the Kyuubi.

Charging again, Naruto launched a punch, but the Anbu jumped back. What the masked shinobi didn't expect was a chakra arm to shoot of the blonde's fist and impale him through the chest. The Root shinobi fell over dead.

The foul chakra receded and the blonde fell to his knees, panting with exhaustion. He only gave a few moments to himself to rest though. He knew he was still being chased and that the Kyuubi chakra would attract the rest of the Anbu.

Before he continued running, he created about a hundred more clones; hopefully that would by him a few more minutes.

He was lucky, none of the other shinobi turned up as he ran. The blonde's stamina was beyond incredible for a shinobi and because of it he was able to run to the edge of the Hi no Kuni.

He spent the better part of the night looking for the bridge that connected to the Wave. Late in the evening he was able to locate it and was across it by early morning.

* * *

The Wave was doing extremely well.

Ever since Team seven was able to get rid of Gato, the country was able to set up a proper trade network with the Land of Fire, Land of Water and Land of Wind. Shops were able to fill and food was no longer sparse. Street crime and pickpocketing had gone down tremendously. Factories were set up and the Wave became a major figure that exported fish to Hi no Kuni.

Tsunami was proud of her father for his determination to finish the bridge and she was extremely grateful to the Konoha ninja that protected him. Because of them she was no longer afraid to leave the house, or letting Inari leave unprotected to go and play with his friends. It was regular to see her in the village poking around the shops for different ingredients to put in her home cooked meals.

Because of the trade network set up, shops in the village could now afford a variety of products, not just from the Land of Fire, but other great nations as well.

Tsunami was just returning from the shops with Inari by her side helping her carry the food she bought. She had planned to make a feast for her family tonight because Tazuna had just made in onto the villages council. He would be a huge factor in deciding what happens with the trade networks.

Inari was jumping around excitedly, ready to help his mother cook his favorite meal, but all excitement dropped when they saw a figure leaned up against the door of their house.

"Mom! There's someone at our door!"

They both cautiously walked closer, but their caution turned to fear when they realized who it was.

They dropped their bags and ran to the boy's side. They carried him inside a laid him down on the couch. Tsunami went to the kitchen to get stuff to clean him up while Inari rushed to get blankets. They took care of the boy for close to half an hour, cleaning and bandaging the cuts and dirt. When they realized they couldn't do much else for him, they let him rest.

"Inari, go grab the bags we left outside."

As the boy did what he was told, Tsunami started to prepare in the kitchen.

She would have a great meal ready for the hero of the wave when he woke up.

* * *

Sakura could barely get out of bed in the morning. She just laid there as her thoughts went to Sasuke. They always did.

What had she done wrong?

She did everything she could for him yet he still left. She wasn't strong enough to convince him not to leave.

She almost wanted to blame Naruto for not bringing him back, but she knew he tried. He would do anything to make his friends happy. And even if Sasuke and he fought constantly, she knew that they had been friends. He would have wanted to bring him back to.

He had promised her he would keep trying.

For a moment she felt lost. She had heard Naruto when he told Shikamaru that Sasuke had gone. She had been standing outside the door. She had felt hopeless; her world had collapsed around her. That is until her blonde teammate promised her that she would keep trying.

If he would keep trying why couldn't she?

She wouldn't let him do all the work! She would help him bring her Sasuke back!

The pink haired kunoichi shot out of bed and got ready. If she was going to be just as strong as her teammate she would get the best training possible; she would be trained by a Sannin!

* * *

Tsunade had five empty sake bottles on her desk. She drank mostly to help her drown the sorrow she felt now that Naruto was gone. The other reason she drank was to help her deal with the council.

She had called for another meeting after Naruto had left. When they council came together she decreed that the banishment of Naruto was not allowed to be told to the public. Only those the Hokage have given permission to would be allowed to tell anyone. If the law was disobeyed, the accused would be sent to Ibiki.

She had received protest from the civilian side of the council and the elders, but her authority as Hokage shut them up.

After the meeting was over she returned to her office and cried.

The tears flowed like a river as she drank herself stupid. She fell asleep in the office, not disturbed until the next morning when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" she grumbled as she straightened herself out. She had to look decent as Hokage.

Sakura poked her head through the doors. "Hokage-sama?"

"Sakura? What do you want?"

"Hokage-sama, I have a request," the pink haired girl replied as she entered the office. "I don't want to be a burden to my team any longer! I want to be strong so I can fight with them, not behind them! Please let me train under you! I want to become an amazing medical-nin!"

Tsunade looked bewildered for a moment that Sakura was showing a backbone for once. Every time she met the girl she would just shy away.

She had read Sakura's file a while ago. Any shinobi or kunoichi that came out of the academy that showed some talent as medical-nin would be put into the new medical-nin program. Out of all the files that Tsunade read, Sakura's was the one that stood out the most. Her chakra control was far beyond the rest of her class, though her small chakra reserves helped. Her intelligence was definitely not questioned either. Ibiki had told her that the pink haired Genin was able to answer every question on the test of the first round of the Chunin exams.

"I have read your file Sakura. It says you were extremely intelligent and your chakra control was impeccable. Am I correct?" Tsunade asked with a small smile.

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

"Well I bet you if we increased your chakra reserves and spent a little more time refining your chakra control you would make an excellent medical-nin."

Sakura at that moment looked like she was about to explode with happiness. She was going to be trained by a Sannin!

"The day after tomorrow you will meet me at the hospital at first light." Now was the time to give the bad news. "But Sakura there is a favor I have to ask you to do also."

"Hai! Whatever you would like!"

Tsunade gave a small sigh and got up from her desk. She moved to put her hands on Sakura's shoulders; she knew the news she was about to give would hurt her, her team was completely gone.

"Sakura, I want you to go to all of Naruto's friends and give them some news about him…"

"What? Has something happened to Naruto?" The worry in the young girl's voice was very clear.

"Unfortunately…" It was still hard for the Hokage not to choke on her words. "Naruto yesterday, by decree of the council… was banished from Konoha…"

Something inside Sakura obviously broke. "Wh-why…?"

"He was said to be a danger to village because a group of S-rank nukenin are after him, and the village is not strong enough to handle them at the moment…"

Tsunade pulled her newest apprentice into a hug and let her cry.

* * *

Naruto's first thought was that he was… comfortable?

Next was that he smelt something delicious? He smelt bacon and eggs. Not his typical breakfast of instant ramen but right now he take anything.

The blonde opened his eyes and sat up. He recognized everything around him. The place hadn't changed much since he was last here. A few more pictures of the bridge builder's family with happy villagers hung on the wall. Some of the furniture had changed; it looked a little more expensive.

"Welcome back to the world of the living boy," said a gruff voice.

Naruto turned his head and saw that Tazuna was sitting at the kitchen table with breakfast and a bottle of sake next to him.

Surprising.

Tsunami was in the kitchen was in the cleaning up. "Naruto-kun! We are so glad you're awake. Come to the table! I will have something for you in a second!"

The blonde did as he was told and took a seat next to Tazuna. He was quiet which surprised the other two. When he was last here he was always so boisterous and loud.

"So what brings you here kid?" Tazuna asked. "We are glad you came for a visit but you showed up leaning against our front door beat up and unconscious."

"Is Inari here?" Naruto replied after a few moments.

"No. I sent him down to the village to grab a few extra things." Tsunami said.

"Good, I don't think he should hear this."

He explained everything that happened to him since yesterday morning. To say that they were disgusted with how the village treated him was an understatement.

"THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT THEIR COMRADES?" Tazuna slammed his fist into the table. "THEY WON'T EVEN MAKE AN EFFORT TO HELP THEIR OWN!?"

"Oh Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry! How could they do that to you!?" Tsunami rushed over to give the boy a hug.

"It's alright. Really! I'll figure out something." He didn't want them to worry about him but he still gladly accepted the hug. It was rare that someone acted like they cared for him and he would take every chance he got when someone did.

"Do you have any ideas what you will do now?" Tazuna asked. "Will you become a civilian? We can probably find you a job in the village?"

"No, that's alright. I think I will join another village. I want to go to Kaminari no Kuni and join their hidden village. If I join them I will still be able to be a shinobi and if I gain their trust they might protect me."

"Probably best for a kid like you. Someone like you was meant to help and protect others." Naruto smiled, he was happy that they believed in his dream. "Are you sure they will take a shinobi from another village?"

"I hope so. I don't know what I would do if they didn't."

Tsunami gave Naruto breakfast, which he ate happily. He may not have been as loud as they remembered him, but apparently he didn't lose his appetite, he shoveled the food down. Once he was finished he grabbed his bag that was leaning on the couch and went to the door.

"Naruto-kun, where are you going?" Tsunami asked.

"I can't stay here. If I do I will put you guys in danger. Someone from Konoha wants to kill me and he sent his men after me yesterday. I was able to escape one of them and I'm still unsure why the rest haven't caught up."

Tsunami was about to protest but Tazuna stopped her before she could by putting a hand over her mouth.

"We understand boy. How do you plan on getting to the Land of Lightning though?"

"I guess I will have to go through Hi no Kuni."

"No, don't do that. It may be the shortest route but if you have people from your village after you then you're walking right into their hands. Do you have a map?" Naruto pulled his map out and laid it across the table. "Take this route." The bridge builder pointed to the shipping network from Wave to Kiri and then from Kiri to Kumo. "You can take a few different ships to Kaminari no Kuni. You will pass through Mizu no Kuni but that shouldn't be a problem. Do you need any money for ship fare?"

Naruto showed them Gama-chan, who was completely full.

"Good! Now once you get to the port, ask around for Shinji, he will be able to take you to Kiri. Just say that Tazuna sent you." The bridge builder then put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Good luck boy. Just know that you are always welcome here."

"Thanks Old man, Tsunami-chan, I will come back and visit! Tell Inari I'm sorry I didn't see him. Hopefully he will understand." He gave them both a hug and left.

Naruto was infamously known for pranking. Because of his pranks he learned how to hide, run and deceive everyone from villagers to Anbu. He also knew how to use these skills in battle which usually gave him a slight edge at the beginning. Like his battle with Kiba.

_'I still can't believe how I won that…' _he thought to himself. _'Wait! Stay on track! Gotta get out of here before they catch me!" _

It took a few minutes but he finally came up with an idea. Knowing if he just took a boat to Kiri he would easily be caught, he created a few clones.

"Alright! I want the three of you to go to villages that are allied with Konoha. Make yourselves noticeable but don't get caught!"

"Hai Boss!" They all replied before running off.

Naruto then changed his appearance with a small henge. He changed his hair color to brown and removed the whiskers on his cheeks. He would be able to keep the technique up for hours if need be. A small henge wouldn't even make a dent in his massive chakra reserves.

"I'll have to get new clothes in the village. I love orange! But these things are just too noticeable."

With everything planned, the blonde took off on his journey to the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

**Hey guys, this is my first Naruto Fanfiction. I hope you guys like it. Review and all that.**

**I'll try to post once every week or two. **


	2. Chapter 2: Hidden Feelings

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Xx Outside Wave Village xX

Naruto did exactly what Tazuna told him and went to the docks.

As he asked around about a guy named Shinji, he couldn't help but notice the way everything was so much more peaceful. He would have loved to live here if he could, but he would ruin the peace that they worked so hard to get back if people were still after him. He also wasn't going to give up on being the best shinobi he could!

He soon found Shinji on a small transport ship. The guy was pleasant enough and said he would gladly give Naruto a ride to one of the small islands in Mizu no Kuni for a small fee. They wouldn't be leaving until late in the evening though so Naruto had a little more time to look around.

The blonde grabbed a small bite to eat from a vendor and then made his way outside of the village. If he had the time, there was one place he needed to visit or else he would feel extremely guilty.

He was now trudging his way up a hill that overlooked the village. When he made it to the top he sat down and stared at two graves in front of him, one with scarf hanging around it, the other with a giant sword behind it. The flowers that Team 7 had hung around them during their mission seemed to have withered away.

The blonde sat there for a couple of hours not moving a muscle. He kept going over in his head what had happen to himself in the past few days, his thoughts traveling a mile a minute. His friend leaving, getting banished and almost captured, he wanted to tell the two in front of him everything but the words seem to catch in his mouth.

"I'm sorry Haku…" were the only words that came out fluidly. "I'm sorry; I couldn't protect the people precious to me…" He realized he didn't want to tell what happened, just how he felt. Since leaving the council he hadn't talked to anyone about how he felt.

"I failed to protect my precious people" the blonde continued. "I couldn't keep my best friend to stay in the village and now the village kicked me out! How can I keep my promise or protect anyone when I'm not there fighting next to them! I feel so weak!"

"What am I supposed to do now!?" He was yelling now, hoping something would shout back and tell him. The rustle of leaves from the wind was the boy's only reply.

His thoughts went to Haku and how they met. They talked about how they would become strong protecting their precious people. Even when they battled, Haku fought till the end saying he would protect Zabuza.

He fought until the end.

"That's right… You never gave up did you Haku?" Naruto smiled and looked up at his friend's grave. "You asked me to kill you but in the end you still protected Sword Guy with your life."

The boy started to chuckle to himself. "I bet right now if you were still alive you would tell me not to give up either." Turning to face Zabuza's grave, "I bet you if you were still alive to you would yell at me for being weak and a dumbass." The blonde was now full out laughing. "I bet you would have chased me around with that sword to, saying you didn't want to hear my shitty complaining!"

It took a couple of minutes for him to calm down from his laughing fit. When he did, he looked at both graves and had a giant goofy grin on his face. "Thank you. I guess I broke when they told me I couldn't return. I just needed a reminder."

"I won't fail this time!" He shouted with new vigor. Standing up and grabbing some flowers he bought in the village from his bag, he put them around the graves.

He put them around Haku's grave first. As he put the flowers around Zabuza's grave, he noticed the sword behind it. It looked like it had seen better days. It wasn't sharpened at all. It looked as dull as the kunai he used to buy from shinobi store owners in Konoha. The blade also looked like it had been through some rough weather because the bandages around the handle were starting to tear, and the blade looked slightly rusted.

"You would probably hate us right now huh?" He said while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "You would probably want that thing used instead of sitting around doing nothing?"

Moving around the grave, the blonde grabbed the handle of the blade and tried to pull it out. He struggled greatly.

"What the hell!?" His heels dug deep into the ground. "Is this thing in stone!?"

Putting all of his effort in one last tug, the blade shot free from the ground. Naruto fell back on the ground while the blade did a small flip in the air and landed blade first in the ground, dangerously close to Naruto's head.

"Phew…" Sweat was pouring down the blonde's face. Getting up he turned to face Zabuza's grave again. "I promise I will take care of this sword and use it properly! I will make you proud!"

Grabbing the blade again, this time a little easier, the blonde trudged down the hill back to the village, pulling the blade behind him.

"Seriously!? This thing is fucking heavy! How was he able to one hand it!?" It took a huge amount of his strength just to pull in on the ground. "Damn…. This is going to be one long journey…. I wish I had someone to talk to."

Every time he left the village it had always been on a mission so he had someone to talk to. Even if they would get angry at him for saying or doing something stupid, which he usually did, he still enjoyed the company.

_'One thing I won't miss though is Sakura hitting me on the head all the time!' _He scratched his head mostly where Sakura hit him. He could still faintly feel a bump from all the times she did. _'Damn she hits hard.' _

Continuing on with his original thought, _'Now if only I could summon a friend to join me, that would be awesome!' _The blonde walked for a few more minutes with a goofy grin from his idea until it hit him. _'I'm so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I can summon a friend anytime I want!' _

He dropped the sword and created a few hand seals, boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A small puff of smoke appeared where Naruto place his hands on the ground.

**"Yo!" **

* * *

Xx Hokage Tower xX

Danzo was extremely angry.

His plan should have worked without error but he didn't take in account that his shinobi could make mistakes.

When the new born jinchuriki was found after the kyuubi attack, he wanted to take him, turn him into the weapon he should have been for Konoha, but Sarutobi had stopped him. Even when Danzo tried to get the boy years after the attack, Sarutobi was always there for the boy, making sure Anbu was always watching the boy.

But the old Hokage was gone now, and he was replaced by a seemingly irresponsible one.

It was the perfect chance for the old war-hawk to try one last time to snatch the boy away, because this time would surely be successful.

It was easy to convince the Hokage's advisors to get rid of the boy. Ever since Sarutobi took up the position of Hokage after the fourth, his old teammates leaned towards negotiating with Danzo. They believed that Sarutobi's views were too soft and peaceful to lead, what they believed, the strongest hidden village.

After that Danzo just had to wait for the civilian side of the council to vote him out also. It was obvious they would. The village hated the boy. Only after the meeting with the council, he would wait for his operatives to capture the jinchuriki, and he would finally have the weapon he needed.

When his operatives returned from their mission and said they had lost the boy, he had almost ordered all their deaths. How could his shinobi be tricked by such a low tactic and then one of get killed because they waited to put a suppression seal on him!

They would have continued on after the boy, but luck was not on his side. When the Root nin tried to cross the border to the Wave, Konoha forces were patrolling, and they couldn't continue or they would be noticed by the sensory ninja. By the time the border patrol left and they got into the Wave, the boy seemed to have disappeared.

Root Shinobi would need to step up their training if they could be bested by a 14 year old boy.

Now though, Danzo was on his way to a meeting with the council. He walked down the halls until he reached the room pushing the doors open, as soon as he did; he was grabbed by the neck and thrown against the wall near the entrance.

"DANZO I SHOULD SLIT YOUR THROAT RIGHT NOW!"

"I see you have returned Lord Jiraiya." Danzo said calmly while the Toad Sage's hand was firmly gripped around his throat.

"Jiraiya put him down!" Tsunade shouted from her spot at the council table.

"Hime…." The Toad Sage was growling. "He has caused too many problems for Konoha! He deserves to die!"

"You know if I could, I would." The Slug Princess glared at the man her teammate held up. "Now please put him down."

Jiraiya let the man drop to the ground. Grabbing his neck lightly to comfort it Danzo made his way to his seat on the council.

"Right Jiraiya, I called a meeting like you asked, after you destroyed my office in anger. What would you like to say?" Tsunade asked.

"I want all of you to revoke the rule you made to banish Naruto."

While the shinobi side of the council nodded in agreement, the civilian side threw out multiple insults at the Sannin. They yelled that he was partnered with the demon and he wanted to destroy Konoha.

"ENOUGH!" Tsnuade shouted. She was getting extremely tired of the civilian side of the council. Why her sensei had let them on the council still confuses her to this day.

They got greedy with their positions. These are shinobi matters and the villagers cannot comprehend everything that they need to accomplish. Especially if they, with the elders, try to outvote every rule the Hokage tries to make.

"We will not change the ruling about Uzumaki." Koharu stated after everyone quieted down. "He is a threat to the village because of what he holds and the group of S-rank criminals that are after him."

"The Akatsuki!?"

"Yes Lord Jiraiya. We would not be able to handle them if they attacked the village. Banishing one Shinobi for the sake of the village is a small price to pay."

"The Akatsuki are not going after Naruto for another three years." Jiraiya was clearly trying to keep anger in check, but small amounts of killing intent could be felt. "I was going to train the boy myself so he could protect himself!"

"But what was stopping them from attacking the village early to capture him?"

"Naruto wasn't even going to be in the village! I was going to take him on a three year training trip!"

"I'm sorry Jiraiya," Homaru said. "But there is nothing you can say that will change the mind of the council."

The room was silent. Tsunade had trouble looking her teammate in the face so she kept her head down. The shinobi side of the council wanted to voice their opinions, but they knew they would be shot down as fast as they were last time. The civilian council were quiet because they could barely hand the killing intent that was rolling off the Toad Sage.

"I guess there is no more I can do then. I will leave and look for the boy." The white haired Sannin made his way to the door.

"We cannot allow you to do that Lord Jiraiya." Koharu spoke up. "You are a leaf shinobi and you must do what is best for the village. Searching for a banished Genin is of no help to Konoha."

"You don't believe that Naruto could hurt the village even if he is banished! What if a village takes him in and turns him into a weapon!?" He turned to face the council again.

"That is not possible Jiraiya." Danzo said as he stood up from his seat. "The seal that was place on Uzumaki before he left can be triggered at any moment. It will explode and instantly kill him. He is no threat to Konoha."

The killing intent from the two Sannin that enveloped the room was enough to even make the clan heads shrink in fear.

"You placed what on Naruto….?" Jiraiya whispered coldly.

Neither of the Sannin received their reply. Danzo merely looked at them both with his usual cold emotionless stare, the tension hanging in the air for a few minutes.

"Konoha has become pathetic," the Toad Sage finally said. Many released breaths that they didn't even know they were holding. Jiraiya made towards the door again. "Now I'm going to look for my Godson."

"Godson…" Shikaku whispered to himself as everyone watched the white haired shinobi leave. A few of the clan heads whispered to each other what he meant by godson while the civilians tried put themselves together after cowering from the killing intent.

Tsunade wanted to chase after her teammate, but she needed to finish up with the council first. "Right, so does anyone else have anything else to say?"

"Hokage-sama…."

"Yes Shikaku?"

The Nara had complete horror written on his face. "Hokage-sama, I believe yesterday we banished the last Namikaze."

* * *

Xx Konoha Training Grounds xX

Jiraiya stood in the center of the Third Traning Ground.

He looked around and remembered all the times team Hiruzen would train here. Orochimaru would usually pass whatever test the old man had for them while Tsunade followed pale boy's lead. He would try and find his own way to pass but every time he would get tied up to one of the standing logs.

Why did Konoha keep making these horrible mistakes of who they put their trust, time and effort into? Everyone called Orochimaru a genius, that he would one day become stronger than the Hokage himself. Tsunade even had a small crush on the pale shinboi. But look were their genius was now. He had done experiments to shinobi and children that would make the battle hardened Jonin lose his stomach.

Then the village put their effort into the last Uchiha. He received extra training from Chunin and Jonin, and the villagers did everything they could to make his life comfortable. Kakashi trained the boy more than his other two genin. Jiraiya knew the Jonin was trying to turn his student away from the dark path he was going down, but that doesn't mean you leave your other two students helpless.

Now Sasuke betrayed Konoha and went off to train under his former teammate just so he could kill his brother and then village banished the most loyal shinobi they had just to save their own hides. Konoha teaches its shinobi that teamwork was the way to succeed and you should protect your brethren, but they just failed their upmost rule.

It was the sounds of footsteps that interrupted Jiraiya's thoughts. He turned around and walking towards him was Tsunade. A red tinge was clear on his teammates face, probably because she was having trouble handling the council.

And that was exactly it. After Jiraiya had left and Shikaku told the council about Naruto's heritage, the whole council went into an uproar. The civilian side of the council claimed that Jiraiya was partnered with the demon child and was trying to trick the council into believing his student was the son of the Fourth Hokage. The Clan Heads tried to rebuttal that it was clear Naruto was the son of the Fourth and that it was enough grounds to overrule the banishment.

The Hokage was supposed to be in charge of the council and control the flow of discussions, but she could barely get a word in. It wasn't until she slammed her fist into the table, snapping it in half, which got the council to quiet down.

Tsunade, after everyone's attention was on her, said that the discussion was pointless until the records on Naruto and his parentage was found. She also ordered that anything that was said in that council meeting was an S-rank secret and anyone she found who disobeyed would go straight to Ibiki and would never see the light of day again. Most of the civilian side tried to talk her out of it but she said that if his father was Minato and the village found out, the information would leak to other villages and they would try and capture him. She may have had to banish Naruto, but she was definitely not going to put a target on his back.

She then dismissed everyone so she could find her teammate who she now stood only a few steps away from.

They both looked at each other not saying a word. Tsunade had a very pleading look on her face while Jiraiya gave her a very stern one. The tension between the two was extremely high, until Tsunade jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him and dug her face into his shoulder.

"Jiraiya! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" He could feel her tears go through his clothes. "I couldn't protect him! I tried to but I couldn't do anything! I'm so sorry!"

The white haired Sannin looked down at his teammate in shock. Never since he has known her, has she shown such weakness. Even when Dan had died, she cried, but she almost beat him to death when he tried to convince her to stay. Her clinging to him just showed him how much she actually cared for the boy.

"It's ok Hime…" he replied as he returned her hug. "I know you would have done anything for him."

"Jiraiya, I'm a horrible Hokage. I let the fucking council beat me and now I can't protect him!" Her grip tightened on his clothes. "He probably hates me now…"

"Tsunade, he doesn't hate you." The Toad Sage took her by the shoulders and forced her to stand and face him. "I know him and he would never hate you. I know he would still care for everyone here. Though I bet he would want to rip Danzo's throat out right now."

He never got a reply from his teammate; she just nodded and rubbed some of the tears away from her eyes.

"Now I'm going to look for him. Stand back because I'm going to call for some help."

As Tsunade did as she was told, Jiraiya performed a Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Smoke covered the area and the ground shook under the weight of the summon. Looming over the two shinobi was Gamabunta with a pipe in his mouth.

**"JIRAIYA! WHY HAVE YOU CALLED ME HERE!?"**

"Bunta! I need your help!"

The giant toad looked around and then back at the two shinobi. **"I don't see any danger anywhere Jiraiya."**

"Fighting is not why I need your help. Yesterday Naruto was unjustly banished from Konoha!"

The two Sannin expect Gamabunta to go into a fit. He may not have acted like it, but he really did like Naruto. The boy reminded him of Minato who has been by far his favorite summoner. But Gamabunta did not go into a fit. Instead he looked up to the sky and took a long draw on his pipe.

**"This is very displeasing. Why was the boy banished Tsunade?" **

"He was considered by the elders and the civilian side of the council to be a threat to Konoha. I and the clan heads were outvoted." Tsunade had a serious tone in her voice, the same voice she used when she was dealing with Hokage matters. "I tried my best but there was nothing I could do Gamabunta-sama."

**"I see… Well Konoha has lost its mind if it thinks getting rid of the boy was in their best interest. He may have been a stupid little brat, but he is a damn loyal subordinate!" **

"And that is why I need your help Bunta" Jiraiya said. "Would you be able to use your toads to find him?"

**"I'm sorry Jiraiya, but I cannot do that." **

"WHAT? WHY?" both Sannin shouted at once.

**"It goes against the summoning contract. Unless he is in definite danger I cannot just give the whereabouts of my summoners." **

"THE BOY IS OUT THERE BY HIMSELF! THAT IS DANGER ENOUGH!" Tsunade shouted.

**"Unless he is in imminent Danger there is nothing I can do. I'm sorry to you both." **The old toad did look truly saddened but he was not someone to break the summoning code.

"Fine! I will search for him myself then!" Jiraiya said. He knew that it would be a long shot that the taods would find Naruto for him, but he had to ask. Finding Naruto was not the only reason that Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta though. "Before I leave, I have one last question. Will you remove Naruto as one of your summons? He is no longer a Konoha shinobi and the toads are allied with Konoha."

Gamabunta took another long draw on his pipe. It was a hard decision to make for the chief toad. It is true what Jiraiya has said but at the same time Naruto showed loyalty that barely any other shinobi has before. He did not want to be another comrade to let the boy down.

**"No" **he finally replied. Both Sannin let out a sigh of relief at the old toad's decision. **"But understand Jiraiya and Hokage-sama, I believe that the village has let down one of its loyal shinobi and it is unacceptable among summons to let down their comrades. I will not break the contract with the boy, but at the same time we will not allow another Konoha shinobi to sign the contract until I believe that Konoha has devotion to their comrades again."**

Both Sannin nodded their heads. The toads were already picky about who they took on as a summoner, and Naruto's banishment gave them more reason to be weary. They would take the sacrifice of not allowing another summoner for a while so Naruto could have more protection.

"Thank you Bunta, I'm happy with your decision." Jiraiya gave a wide smile towards the chief toad.

**"I shall take my leave now." **And with a poof of smoke Gamabunta was gone.

"I should probably leave now also Hime. I need to find him and take that wretched seal of him. Hopefully I can train him also so he can protect himself when the Akatsuki do come after him."

"I guess I won't see you for a while?" Tsunade aksed. She became Hokage mostly because of the people that convinced her, but they were slowly disappearing now.

"I will return after I have found him. I will keep you posted with what I find. I promise"

The two looked at each other, saving a few more moments, then Jiraiya leaped away.

* * *

Xx Outside Wave Village xX

"So you know everything now then huh?"

**"Yep! I'm sorry Naruto but I'll help ya buddy!" **

"Thanks Gamakichi!"

Both Naruto and Gamakichi were walking towards the Wave village. When the young toad was first summoned he lept onto Naruto's head and tapped him lightly. It confused the blonde until the toad told him that Gamabunta had told him everything. He also told Naruto that he wouldn't lose his contract with the toads which made Naruto jump in the air excitedly. After Naruto told everything that happened since he left the village. His summon didn't say much, but he nodded.

Now Gamakichi was nestled on Naruto's head as they made their way back.

**"Naruto, what are you dragging behind you?" **

"Oh! That is the sword from Sword-guy!"

**"Sword-guy?"**

"Yea, he was the guy we fought on my first C-rank mission and he carried this giant sword!"

**"Where was Sword-guy from?" **

"Ummmm….." Naruto was thinking hard on this one, he barely listened to Kakashi when he explained who Sword-guy was. He was too distracted with Haku and what Haku did for Sword-guy. "I don't remember….. I remembering Kakshi-sensei saying something about mist but that's it."

Naruto expected his summon to nod his head and say "Ahhh…." and then go with the flow. What he didn't expect was to be slapped several times in the face by small orange webbed hands.

"What the hell Gamakichi!?" He dropped the sword down and grabbed the toad off his head and held him in front of him. "What was that for!?"

**"You're not the brightest shinobi are you!?" **The toad replied as he tried to relieve himself from his summoners grip.

"What!? I'm a smart guy!"

**"If you were smart, you would know that you were carrying Kubikiribōchō!" **

Naruto tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes. "Kubiki-wha?"

Palming his face, the toad continued. **"That is Kubikiribōchō. It's the sword that Zabuza Momoichi carried. Zabuza was also one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." **Naruto just tilted his head the other way with his eyes still squinted. This was the type of information he slept through in the academy.

"How do you know all this?" the blonde asked.

**"Ever since the battle with the Sand jinchuriki, Pops has been upping my studies. Even summons have to know about what goes in the shinobi world and know some famous shinobi." **Gamakichi did like Naruto. He always gave him good treats, but the boy could be so damn stupid. **"Don't tell me you were going to carry that everywhere?"**

"Well how else am I supposed to get it around!?"

**"Storage scroll! Don't you think it would have been suspicious that you were carrying around such a big sword!? Or even worse! Carrying it through Kiri!"**

The two just stared at each other, Gamakichi with an annoyed look and Naruto with a serious one. "I didn't think of that…" the blonde finally replied. He regretted replying though because Gamakichi started to struggle in his hands and hit him. He held strong until the toad bit him.

"HEY! THAT HURT!"

**"OF COURSE IT DID! NOW PUT ME BACK ON YOUR HEAD AND OPEN YOUR PACK!"**

Mumbling death threats to his friend, the blonde did as he was told. Moments later all his stuff was lying in front of him. He had a few kunai and shuriken that looked a little bit dull. He also had a few academy training scrolls and the map Tsunade gave him.

**"Right there!" **Gamakichi said, pointing at a scroll among the academy ones.

Naruto reached and grabbed it. He was in a rush when he was leaving his apartment so he didn't bother checking exactly what he was grabbing when he got the scrolls from under his floorboard, he just assumed they were all academy ones. Opening up the one his summon pointed out; he realized he did grab a storage scroll.

"I didn't know I had one of these!" The blonde shouted as he examined the sealing matrix closely with one eye. "I wonder why I have it."

**"Well see if you have anything in there!"**

He placed the scroll down on the ground and added a little chakra to it. In a puff of smoke, Naruto's old goggles that he used to wear before getting his Hitai-ate sat neatly on top of the scroll.

"Hey! My goggles! I remember now! Before the final round in the Chunin Exams Ero-Sennin was teaching me about storage scrolls and he got me to seal my goggles into one to show me." The blonde hurriedly picked the goggles up and tied them around his neck. "I can't believe I forgot about these!"

**"Well how about now you seal up the sword?" **Gamakichi asked as he checked over Naruto's new piece of equipment.

"Right!"

When the sword and everything else was pack away, they made their way to the village again. It didn't take them very long to get there since they were only five minutes away before. In the village the streets were bustling with people and the smells of different food hung in the air. Naruto thought he could feel Gamakichi drooling on top of his head.

**"Can we grab a bite to eat Naruto!?" **The toad didn't realize it, but a lot of people looked his way. They weren't used to seeing a talking toad.

"Soon! First I have to get some new clothes."

**"Yea you do, the orange makes you look dumb."**

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with orange!" The two still didn't realize it but everyone in the area was starting to take notice of them. If they had never seen a talking toad, they had definitely never seen a young boy arguing with one.

**"What shinobi wears orange!? Do you want to be noticed!?"**

Naruto was about to reply, but his natural instinct kicked it. He grew up in a village where people hated him and was used to people watching him. He grew sense for it, better than some shinobi. He and Gamakichi were standing in the center of the village square and everyone in the square was staring at them.

"So much for going unnoticed…" The boy whispered as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Gamakichi didn't say anything once he knew the situation they were in. The two knew it was time to leave the area and they made their way to one of the side streets. They walked for a few more minutes trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible, though it was kind of hard to do.

The two finally found a store that Naruto was looking for, a shop full of civilian clothing. Naruto was trying to hide from shinobi and he wasn't going to do that by dressing up as a different shinobi. After about five minutes of looking, and ignoring his summons annoying suggestions, he finally chose a pair of black jeans, a beige long sleeved shirt and a beige cloak similar to the black cloaks Anbu wear. He also switched out his shinobi sandals for a pair of regular ones and kept his goggles hanging loosely on his neck.

Satisfied with his decision he packed up all his old clothes, paid and left. It was late afternoon and Shinji told him that they wouldn't be leaving until after the sun has gone down. He estimated he had about an hour left.

"Well Gamakichi, want to grab a snack?"

**"Finally!"**

* * *

Xx Hokage Office xX

Tsunade sat in her office going over paperwork when she heard a knock at the door. She yelled at them to come in, and Kakashi stepped into her office.

"Mission complete Hokage-sama." Ever since the attack on the village, every shinobi had to do their part helping the village. For some Jonin it meant that they had to take on mission while their Genin teams helped rebuild the village. After the retrieval mission Kakashi had taken on an A-ranked mission.

"Thank you Kakashi." The Jonin nodded his head and made his way towards the door. "Wait! Kakashi I have something to tell you."

"Yes Hokage-sama?" He turned back to face her again.

"Kakashi, this is hard for me to say, but since yesterday Team 7 has been disbanded."

Kakashi's none covered eye widened slightly, but other than that, he did not show any emotion. "May I ask why?"

"Since yesterday two major events have happened. The first is I have taken Sakura on as an apprentice and she will spend most of her time training with me. She won't have the time to be doing D-rank missions around the village."

"I'm glad that Sakura has found something she is good at. Thank you for taking her on Hokage-sama." The Jonin gave an eye smile.

Tsunade just nodded her head and continued on. "Yesterday also, Naruto left the village."

"Did he take on a mission by himself?"

"No. By decree of the council, Naruto was banished from Konoha." She had hoped to see Naruto's sensei overreact. She had hoped that he would shout and say that the council made a stupid decision. But he didn't. Instead his one eye opened wide for a few seconds and then went back to normal.

"I see… Can I ask why Hokage-sama?"

"He was considered dangerous to the village."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"No, you are dismissed Kakashi."

The Jonin nodded his head and made his way towards the door again. He had his hand on the door before the Hokage stopped him.

"Kakashi… I want to know, what do you plan on doing now?"

The white haired shinobi didn't turn around. "I'm going to missions office, and I'm going to take a C-rank mission Hokage-sama," he replied before leaving.

_'I heard a little bit of anger in his voice.' _She noted. C-rank missions were usually taken by high Chunin or lower which made it odd why Kakashi would take one. Tsunade understood why though. A C-rank mission would normally take you out of the village and a Jonin would be able to finish the mission extremely quickly, depending on the mission. If the white haired Jonin took a C-rank and finished it fast enough, he could use some time to go and search for his student and claim that he was gone because of the mission. _'Huh, I guess you do care for your students after all. You have a funny way of showing it though.' _

* * *

Xx Ichiraku Ramen xX

As much as Tsunade wanted to stop it, the fact that Naruto was banished from the village spread across the village. She found the civilian council member that went against her order and she sent him to Ibiki; she would never see the light of day again. What she couldn't stop though was the news from travelling. Villagers once they heard threw small hidden parties. Tsunade would have stopped them if she found out about them but some of her Chunin and Jonin who still had a grudge against the blonde boy just passed them by, some even joining in.

Most of the village was happy that the 'demon' had left the village but eight Genin, one Chunin and two store ownders still hadn't heard.

It was late at night when everyone gathered inside Ichiraku Ramen. The ramen stand would normally be closed but Sakura had asked the Teuchi and Ayame to keep it open for everyone since she had news they would want to hear.

After everyone greeted each other they all ordered and ate peacefully. A little to peacefully…

"Hey, I just thought of something, where is Naruto?" Kiba asked. "Did someone forget to invite him? He would be all over this!"

Everyone realized what Kiba said and turned to Sakura with question looks. She was the one who invited everyone, and how could she forget her own teammate?

"Actually… he is why I gathered everyone here…" Sakura stammered.

"It isn't his birthday is it? Because it would be extremely rude for someone to come to their surprise party and everyone is already eating without them." Ino said.

"No! That's not it at all!"

"Then why didn't you invite him?"

"BECAUSE I COULDN'T!"

Couldn't invite Naruto? What the hell happened to him? Everyone knew that guy would break out of hell (Konoha hospital) just to get some ramen.

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly. They all wanted to ask what happened but Sakura had begun to tear up. They were all afraid the worst had happened and they wouldn't see the blonde idiot anymore.

"Sakura… What happened to Naruto?" Shikamaru finally got the courage to speak up.

"He…" The pink haired kunoichi was choking on her words. "He… was banished from Konoha…"

Silence.

No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone for a few moments had a look of pure shock on their face.

"WHAT!?" Kiba shot up from his chair, knocking the table chair and table he was sitting at over. Neji and Tenten didn't even notice their ramen had spilt over. "WHY THE HELL WAS HE BANISHED!?"

To them, this was worse than if Naruto had died. Shinobi died on the field every day, but it was a lot worse to betray your comrades. Even though Naruto could act like an idiot sometimes, everyone knew that if they had him on their team, he would always have their back. Apparently the village didn't have his though.

"Sakura, why was Naruto banished?" Shino asked. He didn't react visibly, but people who knew him well could tell his voice was filled with anger.

"He's apparently targeted by a group of S-rank criminals and Konoha is in no condition to handle of group of S-rank shinobi if they come looking for Naruto."

"SO WE JUST LEAVE HIM TO DIE!?" Kiba was seething now.

"Hokage said she did everything she could but the council overruled her! There is nothing she could do!"

"FUCK!" In anger the Inzuka kicked the chair he knocked over.

Hinata and Ayame were crying. Ayame loved that boy like a brother and now she would never see him again. Ino had her arms around Hinata to comfort her while she cried. She would never be able to see her Naruto-kun again. She would never be able to tell him how much she admired him!

Teuchi had disappeared but crashing sounds could be heard from the kitchen.

Everyone else was still trying to get over the shock. It was Shikamaru when he got his head together that brought everyone back to reality.

"One thing doesn't make sense though. Why does Naruto have S-rank shinobi after him?"

Everyone looked to Sakura for an answer. Why didn't anyone notice that?

"I don't know," Sakura replied. "I asked Hokage-sama but she told me it was a village secret and that I wasn't allowed to know."

"What could that guy have done that got S-rank shinobi after him?" Ino asked. "We all know he acts like an idiot but he isn't dumb enough to piss people like that off!?"

"Actually… how many of us know Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. "Like we all know how he acts but what do we actually know about him?" Everyone looked around at each other. Didn't anyone try to get to know him?

"Also, I couldn't have been the only one to notice this, why does the village hate the guy so much?"

"I thought he pranked everyone?" Tenten asked.

"So? A little pranking doesn't get villagers to look at you like they wish you were dead. He was one of the most loyal shinobi and no one cared."

"THAT IS UNYOUTHFUL OF THE VILLAGE! NARUTO-KUN'S FLAMES BURNED BRIGHTER THAN EVERYONES!" Lee shouted.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I think Naruto was unjustly banished. I'm going to get to the bottom of this and find a way to bring him back. If this had happened to anyone of us, you know he would do the same." With that, the Nara left the money for his food on the table and left.

Everyone else sat for a few moments going over what they just learned and then did as their Chunin friend.

* * *

**Hey everyone! I have to say this story is a little more popular than I thought it was going to be and I only posted the first chapter about a week ago. So thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story!**

**Just so you all know, the next chapters I'm writing will be all about Naruto in Kumo. I'm done with how everyone has reacted to Naruto's banishement. I may add a few things here and there like Kakshi and Jiraiya searching for Naruto but the next chapter will be about how Naruto mixes in, in the new village. **

**Please review, I love to hear your opinions about what I write. Till next time. **


	3. Chapter 3: Opportunities

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late chapter but I'm moving houses so it's a bit hectic right now. **

**I can't believe how many people like this story so far. I honestly didn't expect this many followers and favorites until later chapters. So thank you to all of you. **

**A couple of things I would like to clear up right now. One is that I know there's no Namikaze clan. It just bugs in me that there isn't that much information on them. They will not be a clan in my Fanfic but they will have some relevance in later chapters. Second, many of you are asking about pairings. What I have to say is, wait and read! If I told you the pairings now, the surprise factor would be completely gone. **

**A special thanks to falciatore1669 who inboxed me and gave me the idea for this chapter. **

**I do not own Naruto blah blah blah**

* * *

Xx Ocean Between Mizu no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni xX

"HOW!?"

**"Because you don't think dumbass!"**

Naruto had been travelling for about five days. He left the Wave with Shinji and arrived in Mizu no Kuni in two days. The trip on Shinji's boat was rather uneventful. The blonde spent some time watching the ocean but the scenery got redundant so he caught up on some sleep that he thought he deserved.

Arriving in Mizu no Kuni Naruto said his thanks to Tazuna's friend and looked for another ship that would take him to Kaminari no Kuni. He looked around the docks of the small village and talked with a few of the villagers. They told him he would have to take small ferries that traveled between the islands to get to the main trade island at the north of the country.

The times between the ferries were close so the blonde just hopped from one boat to the next, only stopping once for a night. He stayed at an inn with a bath house which he greatly enjoyed.

He hated to admit it but he kind of liked the travelling. There may have not been much to do but he did feel kind of relaxed (as much as you can when you're trying to hide from shinobi who were trying to kill you) and he never felt alone since he called Gamakichi whenever he wanted. In the village he was always training or doing stupid D-rank missions. There were only two things that bugged him about the trip. One was that he had to keep the civilian look and training with a bunch of clones would definitely call unwanted attention. The second is no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a ramen stand!

Actually that was not completely true. The blonde, after eating the noodle dish for so many years, had developed a keen sense of smell for it. On the second ferry he took he smelled the sweet aroma of the noodle dish, as the boat was leaving. He ran to the back of boat and hung of the railing and noticed a Ramen bar at the end of the docks. Unlucky for him, the bar didn't open and start cooking until he left.

He cried as he watched his favorite food slowly disappear out of view.

After a couple more ferries he finally made it to the north of the country and found a man who would give him a ride to Lightning Country. The boat was a relatively small ship that transported different types of fish to Kaminari no Kuni. The trip would take about two days and he was now on his second day around midafternoon.

He was sitting on the deck with a game of Shogi between him and his summon. On the first day of travel the captain of the ship had the game sitting around in his office and asked if Naruto would like to use it. The blonde replied that he did but didn't know how to play, so whenever he had the chance the captain taught him the basics by playing a few mock games.

"But the best attack is going after the enemy directly!" He crossed his arms and moved his head close to the board. Squinting his eyes he looked over all the pieces, scrutinizing every one of them.

**"And that's why you lost!" **his summon replied as he palmed his face. He had been doing that a lot recently. He liked Naruto, he was a nice guy and always showed he cared but the boy can be so damn stupid.

"Why!?"

**"If your enemy knows exactly how you're going to fight then he can easily manipulate you! Seriously how did you ever beat any of your opponents?" **

"HEY! I tricked them! Like with Sword-guy. I turned myself in a Fuma-shuriken and got Sasuke to throw me." The blonde was moving his arms around excitedly, using his hands to try and show what he did. He was failing miserably. "And with Kiba I tricked him by turning into Akamaru!"

**"See! Tricking your enemy is how you do it! Make them think you're doing something else than what you're really doing." **Gamakichi stared at his summoner hoping he got the concept and it didn't just travel in one ear and out the other.

Naruto looked between the board and the small toad. What his summon said was true. Every battle he won he had always somehow tricked the enemy, after charging them just to see if he could beat the shit out of them. That is what he did to Neji in the Chunin exams. He tried to beat the Hyuuga into the ground with clones but they would always poof away without leaving a scratch on the boy.

"Alright! I think I know what I have to do, let's play another game!"

**"Nope."**

Naruto blinked a few times as he stared at the toad. "WHAT!? Why!?"

**"You're always so loud…" **Gamakichi whispered to himself as he covered his ears. Realizing the boy wasn't yelling anymore he continued. **"We have played three games already. I'm hungry; I'm going to head home and grab some grub." **

Naruto gave a small pout and then sighed. "Alright. I'll see you later Gamakichi."

The small toad gave a wave and dispersed.

Now with nothing else to do, the banished Genin packed away the shogi set and took a nap on railing on side of the ship. He slept for a few hours until he was shaken awake by the captain of the ship. Catching himself because he almost fell of the ship, he asked why he was woken up.

"We will be arriving in about 10 minutes. I just wanted to let you know." The captain replied in a gruff voice.

"ALRIGHT!" the boy cried happily as he hopped down from the railing and did a few stretches. "Thanks again for taking me!"

"No problem kid." The old captain replied. "I won't be able to see you go since I have to go over cargo and guide the ship into port. So this is goodbye."

"Thanks Captain!" The boy mockingly did a small salute which mad the old man smirk. The boy then reached into his bag and pulled out a small box and held it out. "I had a lot of fun playing Shogi. Thanks again for teaching me. Here is your game back though."

"Take it kid."

"What…?" The blonde asked disbelievingly.

"I said take it." The old man reached and ruffled the blonde's hair a little. Naruto pouted a little because he hated it when people treated him like a kid, but he let the man continue anyways. "I barely get to play anymore because of all the traveling I do and the crew only wants to drink."

"Really!? So I can keep it?" The man nodded in reply. "Thanks Captain!"

"No problem kid. Now I'm off; don't be afraid to come looking for me if you're ever in the area again." And with a small wave the man left back to his duties.

Turning to face the ocean again, Naruto noticed the coastline in view. The smile he had plastered on his face grew wider and wider as ship drew closer and closer. He would finally be on dry land again and he had one mission, and he would not fail.

* * *

Xx Near Kumo xX

It was late in the night for a small village near Kumo. Most the villagers were asleep while others were out and about for a drink. The village was a layer over spot for travelers. Kumo was about a day away by civilian travel so some shops and restaurants were open late for tourists who wanted to take a rest.

In the center of the village was a small square with all the town restaurants and along the side streets that came off of it were hotels. In the center of the square was extra seating for those who wanted to enjoy the crisp air of the night.

That is currently were a blonde teen was running around frantically.

"WHERE IS IT!? THEY SAID IT WOULD BE HERE!" shouted Naruto, obviously not caring that he might wake a few people.

When Naruto landed on Kaminari no Kuni's coastline in a small fishing village, he asked around for a place that sold ramen. It was blasphemy that you don't have ramen at least once a day, and he hadn't had it since the day before he left Konoha!

Unfortunately though the fishing village didn't have a place that sold it, but he did meet a nice elderly couple who said they knew of one in the town he was currently in. It was by extreme luck that the place was on the way to his priority destination.

The trip from the coastline to where he was would normally have been a day and half trip if he kept his civilian appearances up, but instead he decided he needed some exercise. It had been so long since he could train and if he saw any travelers he would slow down.

So he made the trip in about half a day with stamina and speed that would have a normal Jonin breathing hard and he only got lost twice!

Now he was running from store to store through the center of the square, not caring he was knocking over tables and chairs. He didn't hear the angry yells of the customers when he knocked over their meals.

"SERIOUSLY WHERE IS THIS PLACE!?" he yelled. He had just checked the last restaurant that was in the square and was starting to lose hope. "That old couple were so nice! Why would they lie to me…?"

Disheartened, he let his arms fall loosely to his sides and hung his head low. "Well I might as well go and find a place to stay…" He started walking towards one of the largest buildings he saw that had a large neon saying cheap rooms. He wasn't going to spend his money needlessly on a one night stay and he already spent most of his money traveling by boat. He padded the pocked that Gamachan was in and sighed heavily. The little frog used to be stuffed.

All wasn't lost though! When the blonde made it to the front entrance of the hotel he noticed a little bar area to the side of the lobby and above the doorway was another neon sign saying ramen bar.

"YES!" the blonde shouted charging in and taking a seat directly at the bar. "NO SLEEPING TONIGHT! ONLY EATING!"

The bar was not actually just a bar like Ichiraku, it was more restaurant like. It did have a bar but it also had seating areas but no one was around except for one guy and two girls in the back corner. The man was obviously a business man who had money to flaunt as he had two girls next to them in scant clothing and the shrill laughs of theirs were clearly fake.

"What can I get for you?" A young man in an apron had come out from the kitchen behind the bar.

"Five bowls of miso please!" Naruto asked with a big goofy grin.

"Five?" The man replied skeptically. "You sure you can eat that much?"

"You kidding!? That's my appetizer!"

The man scratched the back of his head and put on an awkward smile. He usually worked the night shift and it wasn't normal to deal with a customer that had so much enthusiasm this late. "Alright, I will be right back."

Naruto watched as his server left and then looked around the rest of the restaurant. There wasn't much to see and he kept trying to ignore the horrible laughing from the two women. His eyes though finally settled on some of the sake bottles that were on the shelves behind the bar.

He never liked sake himself but he knew Baa-chan and Ero-sennin would have been all over it. He smiled as he remembered all the times they offered him some but he refused and then he watched them get drunk off their asses. Jiraiya would then say something lecherous towards his teammate and then she would then respond with a nice right hook that would smash him through the wall.

Tsunade always paid so much for the damages she caused.

The good memories didn't last though. His thoughts slowly moved towards when he last saw the Slug Princess and what he asked her.

Would his friends miss him? He really missed all of them. He worked his ass off to get noticed and finally they acknowledged him. Even if he was banished, he would do everything in his power to protect them, the banishment was only a setback.

"Here you go kid." The young man had returned from the kitchen and placed a steaming bowl of ramen down on the counter.

Memories were for later, ramen was now.

The blonde picked up his chopsticks, broke them apart and picked up the noodles from the dish. The noodles were about a half an inch away from his mouth before he heard a voice behind his back.

"Hello Naruto-kun."

The blonde looked up and stared at the reflections off the bottles behind the bar. The images were blurry but he could still easily make out the two black cloaks with red clouds on them.

"Fuck…"

Setting his bowl down, he then hung his head low. He wasn't expecting them to show themselves for another three years and now he was scared. This time he had no one to protect him like Jiraiya. His banishment from Konoha must have been too good of an opportunity for them to pass up.

"It's nice to see you again brat," Kisame said. Naruto heard the man grab the hilt of the sword on his back. "So are you going to come with us peacefully or you going to cause trouble?" They waited for the boy to reply but he said nothing.

"Scared like last time huh?" The blue man laughed obnoxiously. "Well even so this time we are going to make sure you can't escape."

Grabbing his sword off his back, the man swung his bandage sword aiming for the blonde's shoulders. What he wasn't expecting was chunks of wood to fly up into his face. The two women in the back screamed in shock of the violence.

Neither of the Akatsuki noticed but when Naruto put his bowl down, he after made the hand seals for a Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) and switch himself with a chair when Samehada was about to hit.

After wiping the chips from his face Kisame laughed. "Itachi! He has got some spark this time!" Looking around he couldn't see the blonde boy anywhere. "And he's left us. Perfect, I like the hunt."

* * *

"Shit! Shit Shit! Fucking Shit! How did they find me!?"

Naruto was running down one of the side streets with five of his clones. After switching with a chair in the restaurant he quickly dashed away while they were distracted. Outside he made about five hundred clones and they all left in different directions. If the technique was enough to throw of Danzo's men, maybe it would work against Akatsuki.

The jinchuriki wasn't going in any specific direction; he just wanted to get out of the village before he was forced to fight. He wasn't going to fight in a populated area where others could get hurt, a shinobi protects first. But his efforts were no use as one of his clones pushed him out of the way of a sword strike.

Naruto fell on his ass a few feet away from Kisame's sword which was in bed in the ground. With a few fluid motions, the Akatsuki member was able to take his sword from the ground, and dispel the clones that charged him.

"You're not doing too bad brat." The shark man said with a snicker.

Naruto had nowhere to go. He couldn't run back or he would most likely run into Itachi and he was obviously not going to run forward through and S-rank shinobi. He is only option was up.

The blonde launched himself at the side of the hotel building next to him as fast as he could. As expected Kisame followed him and he was barely able to dodge another sword strike by jumping to the opposite hotel across the street. The Akatuski member again followed him and they followed this pattern until they reached the top of the two hotels.

"You better do something interesting brat! This cat and mouse game gets boring fast." Kisame shouted.

Both shinobi landed on each hotels slanted roof standing opposite each other.

_'Shit! Shit! Shit! What the fuck do I do now!?' _Naruto may not be the greatest shinobi on the planet, but he still knew his basics and one of them was never show emotion in battle. He looked expressionless on the outside but in reality he was scared shitless. _'Maybe I can distract him with small talk until I can figure some way out of this.'_

"Where's your partner?" The blonde asked nervously hoping his opponent didn't reply with another sword swing.

"Scared about facing us both brat?" The blue man replied with a laugh. "He decided to stay back and watch after I asked him. It's been so long since I had fun and I thought a game with you would perk me up."

"So I won't have to worry about him then?"

"Oh no, you will have to worry about us both when I finally get bored again." The Akatsuki member got into fighting stance with sword up. "And I'm already losing my patience."

"Well I better get away then!" the blonde replied. Creating his favorite hand seal, the area around the blonde went up in smoke. A few seconds later three Narutos jumped out of the smoke with kunai held in their hands. As they flew in the air over the street, they threw their kunai.

"You're not the smartest shinobi are you?" Easily side stepping the kunai thrown at him, Kisame charged and jumped into the air at the Narutos. "You can't dodge in the air brat!" he continued as he hit them all with a mighty swing.

But he didn't feel solid flesh. His sword passed through them like nothing and he barely regained his balance as he landed on the opposite building.

Looking back he noticed the last few wisps of smoke, not just above the streets, but where the kunai thrown by the blonde should have landed. Only two of the three were sticking out of the shingled roof.

"Smart kid." The S-rank shinobi said with a smirk. "This is the second time I've underestimated you."

Kisame heard a small flutter and looked to his side. His teammate stood next to him, his cloak brushed by the night wind.

"He will have made it outside the village by now." The raven haired shinobi said.

"Perfect. It just means I can let loose and not draw any attention to ourselves."

* * *

Xx Outside The Small Village Near Kumo xX

As the jinchuriki ran, he did not take notice of the terrain around him. It slowly became rocky and the inclines became steeper. The dark clouds in the night grew thicker. He was glad he was wearing beige and not his normal orange jumpsuit because he would have been spotted in seconds.

'Seconds' being the key word.

He barely ran outside the village for five minutes at full speed before he was hit in the back, sending him flying. He hit and skipped across the ground a few times before he came to a full stop.

Naruto was definitely thankful that at some moments he had the Kyuubi inside of him. Around him, steam was coming off of his body as his flesh burned back together. As he shakily got up from the ground, you could see his torn and blood splattered clothes.

"Good to see you again brat!"

Kisame stood about 10 feet away and Itachi was directly behind him. Kisame was holding his sword as it lay on his shoulder. What monstrous strength did he have for him to easily swing and hit Naruto with it, with that much force? "You ready for round two?"

Naruto could barely stand on his legs. His wounds may have closed up but blood was still splattered on his face and his arms hung limply at his sides.

"I guess I will have to fight you." He said with strain.

"Try to make it fun." The blue man replied with his usual snicker. "Now let's see what your taijutsu is like." Putting his sword on his back, he charged forward throwing multiple punches and kicks. The blonde couldn't even lift his arms to put up a defense. A fresh Genin would move faster than he could right now.

"Come on brat! Fight or I'll kill you!" Kisame was getting frustrated and took it out on Naruto's face by launching one specifically hard punch. The blonde flew back and hit a massive rock, cracking it.

He fell to the ground, back against the stone. _'I can't fight like this… I need help' _and with one last ditch of effort, he molded as much chakra as he could, even trying to use some of the Furball's chakra, and created a few hand seals. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ra, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Smoke covered the area as a loud pop was heard. As the smoke started to dissipate, a giant figure could be seen through it.

"Smart. Can't fight a battle by yourself, call for back up." Kisame was impressed the boy could even summon.

**"Jiraiya-san?" **The smoke had completely disappeared and a giant red toad stood tall. He was roughly the same height and size as Gamabunta except his skin was magenta. He wore a black kimino with a white sash and mesh armor underneath. In one hand he held onto a round shield and in the other a sasumata.

"No Gamaken, it's me Naruto." The blonde was lying down on his stomach on top of the toads head.

Naruto had met Gamaken once before. During his training month with Jiraiya before the Chunin exams, he practiced summoning toads with as much chakra as possible. He was successfully able to summon if he concentrated properly, but it was still hard for him to summon in the heat of battle. The pressure got to him and it made it hard to control his chakra, like in the battle with Gaara where he first summoned Gamakichi by accident.

**"Ah Naruto, how may I help?" **

"I need help getting away from those two." He replied pointing down at the two Akatsuki members.

**"I shall try my best Naruto, but I'm very clumsy." **

Gamaken jumped forward and swung his sasumata down on Kisame. The shinobi was able to take his sword off his back and block the toad's weapon, mere inches away from his face. Naruto expected him to be pushed back from the force of the toads attack but the Akatsuki member was planted in place. How much strength did this guy have!?

Gamaken tried to hit Kisame with his shield but missed when the man jumped backwards. The toad would have continued pressing his attack forward but he had to bring his shield up to block a massive fireball.

"Oi!" Naruto shouted. "I thought Itachi was staying out of this!?"

"He was," Kisame replied, "until you decided to call for back up. If you can have your partner fight, so can I!"

Itachi kept his attack going, shooting a massive amount of fireballs, which forced the toad to keep his shield up. Because of this, Gamaken was unable to notice Kisame get under his guard. The bandages fell off Samehada as the blue man took a giant swing up, cutting the stomach of the magenta toad.

Gamaken gave a small cry of pain and jumped back, forced on the defensive.

Then suddenly Gamaken came to a stop. He lets his weapons drop and his body went from a rigid fighting stance to a limp relaxing state.

Seconds later Kisame appeared on top of the toads head and swung his blade hitting Naruto across the chest, blood spraying out. Naruto hit the ground hard.

It seemed as the world was fading away, he couldn't hear anything except a loud ringing in his ears and his vision was starting to go blurry. He could barely make out the two cloaked figures that landed right in front of him.

"How are your eyes Itachi?" Kisame asked.

"They will be fine. Are we done here?" the Uchiha replied.

"If the brat has nothing else he can do." The shark man took and other swing and hit Naruto across the chest again. The scales of Samehada dug deep into the boy's chest. "Come on brat. Is that all you've got?"

The world was going black for Naruto and the pain he was feeling immense. He would have passed out at the moment except a small voice that he hadn't noticed since the start of the fight was starting to grow louder. Naruto had forgotten about his tenant in the heat of battle and now the Fox was screaming inside his head.

**"I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" **The Kyuubi's voice echoed inside his jailers head. **"You're pathetic. I will lend you my power for now so we don't end up dying."**

Suddenly a rush of chakra found its way into Naruto's system; he could feel the chakra pressing on his chakra coils. There was such an abundance of chakra that a wave of it pushed itself outside his body.

Not wasting the opportunity he was given, Naruto quickly jumped back. The two Akatsuki members looked him over interest. His body was covered in a red chakra cloak that was in the shape of fox with two tails. His eyes were red with slits down the center and the whiskers on his face were darker and deeper into his flesh.

"Now this is interesting!" Kisame was overjoyed. He was the type of shinobi who enjoyed his battles and enjoyed toying with his opponents. Most of them went down fairly easily but this kid just kept getting up and up. He loved it.

He was about to charge again but both he and his partner jumped to the side when their battle instincts kicked in. Behind them Gamaken had come out of whatever trance he had been in and swung down at them both with his sasumata.

"Itachi, I still want to battle the brat. Distract the toad for me!" Kisame shouted as he rushed towards Naruto. He didn't need to look back at his partner because he knew he did as he asked.

Instead of waiting for his opponent to come to him, Naruto charged as well. Both fighters were at each other's throats in a matter of second. Naruto went wild and tried to throw as many punches and kicks as he could but Kisame blocked everyone with Samehada.

"Strength doesn't do you any good if you don't use it properly!" Kisame said. It was true; whenever Naruto used the Kyuubi's chakra, he relied on his speed and huge amount of strength. It made it easy for opponents who knew what they were doing to outsmart him. It made it even easier for opponents whose one goal was to capture biju.

Every hit Naruto threw, Kisame just stole his chakra and waited for an easy opening, which appeared when the jinchuriki over extended one of his punches. Swinging his sword up, he got the blonde under the chin which launched him into the air. He didn't give time for Naruto to recover either as he jumped into the air and again swung his sword launching Naruto hard into the ground.

Then the blonde screamed out in pain as the Kisame landed, plunging Samehada into his shoulder.

"Is this the best you've got?" he asked as he ripped his sword out. "I think we are done here brat."

Naruto knew he was done for now. Even with Kyuubi helping him he could barely move and the wound in his shoulder wasn't healing fast enough from Kyuubi chakra. Gamaken wasn't going to help him either. Just as he gained some sort of sense from hitting the ground again, he had heard the summon disappear with a loud pop.

"Now to cut off your legs so you can't run away anymore."

Naruto watched as the Akatsuki member raised he weapon but closed his eyes after, hoping the pain of losing limbs wasn't too great.

Instead of pain though, he heard the clang of two weapons hitting each other.

Looking up he saw a man standing above him sword pressed against Kisame's. The man was wearing white armor with one strap over his left shoulder. He also wore sunglasses and had multiple swords strapped to his back.

"Yo! Everything will be fine, if you back away from Mr. Nine!" The man rapped.

Kisame smirked and tried to press his strength against the new shinobi. The man didn't budge or look like he was struggling under the strength of the Akatsuki member's strength.

"Perfect! Someone who is actually a challenge!" Kisame laughed.

"Kisame." Itachi said as he landed a few feet behind his partner.

The shark man knew his partner well enough to know that he was telling him to back off, so he jumped back and landed right next to the Uchiha.

"This was starting to get interesting again Itachi. Why are we stopping?"

"This man is not someone we should be fighting write now." Itachi replied.

Said man was standing above their target, staring them down. "Leave the boy be, or you'll have to face the magnificent Killer B!" the man said as we waved his hands like was scratching records.

"Kisame, we are leaving."

"Why!? We can take him." Kisame replied. He hated leaving battles.

"He is B from Kumo and most likely after this battle most of Kumo will come out to find out what is going on. We are leaving." Itachi turned and started leaping away back towards the village where their battle with Naruto commenced.

Before following his partner, Kisame turned back to face his opponents. "This isn't over. I'll be back and you better give me a good battle brat!" Strapping his sword to his back, the shark man left.

B watched the two men leave before he turned his attention to the kid he was protecting. He crouched down and pulled the boy into a sitting position.

"Yo! Kid, how ya feeling?" A cough of blood was his answer. As soon as B had stepped in the cloak around Naruto had faded. His wounds kept healing but at a slower rate. Kisame had done a number on him.

"What's… your… name?" Naruto asked with a strained voice.

"Yo Mr. Nine! I'm the eight tails Jinchuriki! Lord Killer Bee!" The man proudly stated.

"Thanks." Naruto replied as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Xx Wave xX

Tazuna heard a knock at his door.

It was late at night and Tsunami and Inari were in bed. He was up at the kitchen table getting some paper work done for the council meeting he was going to the next morning. It was boring work so of course he had a few bottles of sake to keep him company.

Opening the door he noticed Kakashi leaning against the door frame.

"Kakashi?" The bridge builder asked.

"Hello Tazuna. Maybe I come in?"

Tazuna gave a small nod and went back to the kitchen table. Kakashi followed and took a seat on the couch.

"So what took you so long to get here?" The bridge builder asked before taking a swig of sake. He wondered why none of Naruto's friends or sensei had come looking for him.

"I took a C-rank mission and it was bumped up to an A-rank." The Jonin replied.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Tazuna was unsure whether he could trust the Jonin. Naruto had told him that people from Konoha were after him and it was most likely that Kakashi wasn't one of them, but you can never be too sure about everything.

The silence and the missing question 'Why are you here?' from the bridge builder, the white haired Jonin guessed that Naruto had passed by here before he left to wherever the hell he is now.

"So it's safe to say he passed by here?"

"Yep." The bridge builder shuffled around his papers awkwardly.

"What did he tell you?"

"Everything that Konoha did to him. Were you part of that decision?"

"NO!" Kakashi shouted. "The council is who banished him and I want to find him before anything happens to him. He has horrible shinobi after him and he might get killed."

"Well it seems that shinobi outside his village aren't the only ones after him."

The white haired shinobi's eye widened. "…What did you say?

"Apparently shinobi from your village tried to kill him after he left the village."

"Did he tell you who they were?" The Hokage would never send out anyone to kill Naruto, she loved that boy way too much, but if she didn't someone on the council had to.

"He said they were Anbu, but not the regular Anbu under the Hokage's order."

Again Kakashi's eye widened. He had an idea of who it was. He would of course tell Tsunade and she could easily be more on guard for Danzo and his schemes, but the word of an old man from Wave who heard everything from a banished Genin was not enough to get rid of the old war-hawk.

"Please tell me where he went Tazuna. I need to find him before he is captured." Kakashi had some desperation in his voice.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but I can't." Tazuna said after a few moments of thought.

"Why!?"

"The boy trusts me and I'm not willing to lose that trust by leaking information out."

"Do you not trust me and the Hokage, who loves Naruto I might add, not to keep the information secret?"

"No, the boy seemed to trust you and I do also, but I don't trust your village. You of all people should know that information can leak out. You and the Hokage won't keep it for long."

Kakahsi didn't want to admit it but he knew Tazuna was right. Danzo, if he was right about who was after his student, would definitely get access to it and the Akatsuki were enough on Naruto's plate. The Jonin gave the man a small reluctant nod that he agreed.

Getting up the he made his way to the door. Before he left though, he turned to face Tazuna again. "Tazuna, thank you for protecting him, he needs friends like you right now."

"He's a hero here. Nobody would think twice about doing something for him," the bridge builder replied with a gruff voice.

* * *

Xx Otokagure xX

In Otogakure, Orochimaru walked down one of the hallways in his hidden bases. Kabuto walked with him and the he was relaying information to his master he had heard from spies in Konoha.

"So, the Kyuubi brat has been kicked out of the village?" Orochimaru asked.

"Yes Lord Orochimaru."

"Well I know someone who would be interested in this," the snake summoner said while chuckling to himself.

Both shinobi entered a wide open room with pillars around the edges. The room was poorly lit but you could still make out a statue at the far end in the shape of a giant snake coiling around itself. The two Otokagure shinobi heard the sounds of someone panting at the far end of the room. They walked over and noticed that the area was torn and chunks of the pillars were gone. In the center of all the carnage was a boy with clear red eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, I have some information you would want to hear," Orochimaru said.

The Uchiha just replied with a grunt as he still needed a little longer to catch his breath.

"Well you might be happy to hear that the Leaf has banished your best friend. He was considered too much of a threat." The Sannin laughed inside his head when he saw the anger appear on the teens face.

"What do I care what happens to that dobe." Sasuke said after finally catching his breath. "Train me now Orochimaru."

* * *

Xx Kumogakure xX

It was a struggle but Naruto managed to open his eyes. He regretted it as soon as he did though because a strong white light pierced them. He moved one of his hands to cover his face and the other to push himself up. He gave a few moments to let his senses adjust themselves.

The first thing he noticed was that he was completely bandage around his arms and neck. He could feel the bandages go around his chest to. Next he noticed he was sitting in a completely white room. Across from where he was, was a door and next to it was large window, but he couldn't see what was on the other side. He tried looking for his bag but he couldn't see it anywhere.

Overall the room was plain and nothing caught his attention, so his thoughts moved towards what he remembered last. A man had saved him from Kisame. He was glad he remembered thanking the man because if he didn't come to save him he would have definitely been captured. How pathetic he must have been in that battle. All he could do was run away.

Deciding he needed a change of scenery he went to open the door but found it locked. With a sigh he went back and sat down. With nothing else to do he decided to think how he could have fought better and what tactics he could have used.

He thought for about five minutes though before his brain started to hurt. At first it was a dull pain, like a headache, but a second later it exploded with pain. He cried out and fell to the floor. He couldn't stop yelling as the pressure on his brain grew and grew.

He didn't notice when someone came into the room and couched down next to him. "SOMEONE GET A MEDIC NIN NOW!" The shinobi shouted as she put her arms around him. He knew she was a woman from the sound of her voice.

He could barely focus what was going on around him as images seemed to flood his head. He saw images of the desert and the forest. Images of people he knew flashed in his head such as Gaara.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of other people entering the room that the pain slowly dumbed down. His thoughts were starting to get clearer and he was starting to understand what the images were. It seems like his clones he had sent to the allying villages of Konoha had finally dispersed.

"What's going on!? Are you ok!?" the woman who first entered the room yelled. As he started to regain his senses again, he saw a male shinobi in a medic-nin uniform sitting in front of him with glowing green hands moving around on top of his head. The woman was still frantic because he wasn't replying.

"I'm alright now." Naruto managed to say. "Just a bit of backlash from a technique I did a few days ago."

The female shinobi started to calm down but didn't fully relax until the medic-nin said his brain was just feeling a little stressed. Naruto knew if the Kyuubi wasn't inside of him his brain would have been destroyed from the influx of memories.

The two shinobi moved him to the bench he originally woke up on and then the medic –nin left the room. Now he was given the chance to get a good look at the female shinobi.

She was a dark-skinned young woman with light grey hair and striking green eyes. Her clothes looked formal as they were a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt.

"Who are you?" the banished Genin asked.

"My name is Mabui," she replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Mabui. I'm Naruto. Would you tell me where I am?"

"Well right now you are in an interrogation room in Kumo."

The blonde blinked in surprise a few times. "I'm in Kumo?" Mabui gave him a small nod. "YES!" he said as he punched his fist in the air victoriously. "I made it to Kumo!"

"You wanted to come to Kumo?" Mabui asked. She was wondering who this boy was. She had heard that Killer B had returned from outside the village after his training with a beat up teenager in his hands. He talked with his brother before the Raikage asked that the teen be put into an interrogation room and was to be brought back to his office when he woke up.

"Yep! I want to join the village!"

"You want to join the village? Are you a shinobi?"

"Yep!" Naruto replied with a goofy grin.

"Where did you train?" The boy seemed innocent enough but in their line of duty, anyone could really be a spy, so it was best she learned as much as she could before she brought him to the Raikage.

"I lived in Konoha but they kicked me out…" the blonde's mood changed quickly from excitement to depression.

"You were kicked out?"

Naruto gave a small nod before opening his mouth and showing her his tongue. The expression on her face turned grim as she understood what he was implying.

"Well Naruto I'm supposed to take you to the Raikage when you woke up, so you can tell him everything about why you were banished from Konoha and why you wanted to come here." Mabui reached behind her and took out a small piece of paper that looked similar to an explosive tag. "This is a chakra suppression seal. I'm going to need you to wear this while I and another shinobi escort you to the Raikage's office."

Naruto understood and he lifted up the back of his shirt so Mabui could place it on his back. Once they were all done the female shinobi turned to look at him and gave him a small smile. "Alright Naruto, let's go."

* * *

**Well that's chapter three! I enjoyed writing the fight where Naruto gets he ass kicked. He would never be able to take on Akatsuki the way he is right now. **

**Again I'm moving so I might not be able to post the next chapter for a couple of weeks. Thanks again everyone!**


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